Brunswick Pro Bowling isn't a strike but it is definitely not a gutterball.
Crave has created a "realistic" bowling game that not only makes you feel like your at your local bowling alley but it's also alot of fun. Thats not to say it doesn't have its occasional problems.
Brunswick Pro Bowling Features
•Full support for Xbox 360 Kinect
•Compete on 6 highly detailed bowling environments, each with unique characteristics
•Roll on 5 different game play settings including: Exhibition, Online, League, Tournament, and the Spares Challenge
•Customize your bowler in authentic Brunswick gear like shirts, shoes, and bowling balls
•Kid-friendly bumper bowling option makes it fun for all ages
Brunswick Pro Bowling has 5 different game modes. Exhibition is your standard quickplay option for those of you who just want to jump into a quick game and have some fun. For those of you who want to create a bowler and and work your way up from a local bowler to member of the PBA tour then Career mode is what you are looking for.
Once you start career mode you begin by creating your character. There are four characters models to choose from for both male and female bowlers. Each of the bowlers has their own stats ranging from strength to how much hook they can put on a ball. Players can purchase new shirts, pants, hats, glasses, and bowling balls to customize their bowler in the Pro Shop, once they have earned enough money from competing in leagues or tournaments.
After players have created their bowler in career mode they then have four modes to choose from leagues, tournaments, practice, and rivals.
Leagues have players creating a team of two or four players, depending on which league you choose, and competing against other teams to accumulate as many points as possible across a set number of weeks. Leagues can take awhile to play especially if you are the only person playing on a four player team. You can skip your cpu teamates and opponents but it can be a bit of a pain, having an option to always skip would have been a nice addition.
Tournaments have players competing against other opponents one-on-one for a money prize until there is only one person left.
Rival mode pits the player one on one against a selected rival. The winner takes home a cash prize.
Practice mode is exactly what it says it is, but the best way to practice is in a mode called Spare Challenge. In Spare Challenge the player is presented with increasingly difficult spares to pick-up. Getting good at this mode definitely helps increase the players skills across all bowling modes.
Coming in first in any of the modes unlocks more challenges and modes of play to choose from. Each of the modes increases the difficulty of your opponents and changes the conditions of the lanes oil patterns. The oil pattens vary from slight to extreme. The amount of lane oil is determined by color. Green represents light oil; yellow represents medium oil; red represents heavy oil. The amount of lane oil will drastically change the way you bowl on a certain set of lanes, making you change your bowl and equipment for the challenge ahead.
The sound is one of the games biggest weak spots. The ball rolling on the lane and the sound of the pins both sound "realistic", but the music is just average. The music isn't good or bad, it just feels tacked on. The ambient sounds are the same way, but if your playing them with a group of friends you probably wont notice them either way.
Online matches consist of 1-4 players, with the top scoring bowler winning the match. While it can be alot of fun bowling against players online the lack of online leagues and/or tournaments really hurts the online replayability.
PROS
•Perfect for the Family
•Online Play
•Plenty of Game Modes
CONS
•Occasional Problems Releasing the Ball
•No Online Leagues
•Average Music
•Menu Navigation
OVERALL
Brunswick Pro Bowling takes everything you love about bowling from the leagues to the tournaments and packages it into a fun and family-friendly package. Despite it's few flaws it is by far the best bowling game for the Kinect. The "Pro Tour" and "World Tour" modes will keep you busy for a long time, as well as trying to unlock every item. Every family and bowling fan should own Brunswick Pro Bowling.
Review copy provided by the publisher.
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